The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a Muslim woman, her parents, and a cleric for forcefully converting a minor boy forcefully and marrying him off to the woman. The incident came to the fore after a purported video of the ‘nikah’ went viral on social media.
Journalist Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya shared the video on May 24, wherein the cleric could be seen solemnising his nikah of the 16-year-old boy, who was reportedly converted to Islam by the woman’s family after brainwashing him for a year.
The Hindu boy Nikhil Kumar Singh was born in 2005 and is currently studying in the 8th grade. The boy was reportedly brainwashed by the divorced Muslim woman, a mother of 2 children. She then converted him to Islam forcibly so that she could marry him.
“This is Nikhil Singh from Kanpur having nikah with Simran, daughter of Mohd Haneef, after his conversion. Simran has two kids from a previous marriage. As per his Aadhaar, Nikhil is a minor We are told we are living under fascist Hindu Rashtra but this looks straight from Pakistan,” Tweeted the journalist, as she shared the video of the ‘nikah’.
This is Nikhil Singh from Kanpur having nikah with Simran, daughter of Mohd Haneef, after his conversion. Simran has two kids from previous marriage. As per his Aadhaar, Nikhil is a minor
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) May 24, 2022
We are told we are living under fascist Hindu Rashtra but this looks straight from Pakistan pic.twitter.com/iFgfGjEdDA
In her subsequent Tweet, Swati mentioned that “as per reports, police were not filing any case when Nikhil’s family approached them. Hindu outfits intervened and got a case filed based on Nikhil’s Aadhaar card age.”
As per news reports, police were not filing any case when Nikhil’s family approached them. Hindu outfits intervened, and got a case filed based on Nikhil’s Aadhaar card age pic.twitter.com/0LviSMuTWQ
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) May 24, 2022
“An FIR (number 117) was filed at Kakadeo PS last night, under IPC sections 363 and 342, along with sections of UP’s anti-forced conversion Act. The station head officer told me they have acted as per the boy’s Aadhaar though he may not really be a minor. But some arrests likely today”, the Swarajya journalist had Tweeted on May 24.
On the same day, the Kanpur police commissionerate responded to Swati Goel Sharma’s Tweet confirming that the Kakadev PS had registered a case under relevant sections in the case after the video of the incident went viral on social media. They said that the police are probing the case.
थानाक्षेत्र काकादेव के एक युवक का धर्मांतरण कराने का वायरल हो रहे वीडियो के सम्बन्ध में थाना काकादेव पर सुसंगत धाराओं में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर अन्य आवश्यक विधिक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।@Uppolice
— POLICE COMMISSIONERATE KANPUR NAGAR (@kanpurnagarpol) May 23, 2022
Later in the day, NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo also responded saying that the child rights body has taken cognisance of the incident and instructions had been issued to take necessary action in the case.
उत्तर प्रदेश के कानपुर में एक नाबालिग बालक का धर्मांतरण कर निकाह करवाने का मामला संज्ञान में आया है,आवश्यक कार्यवाही हेतु निर्देश जारी किए जा रहे हैं।
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) May 24, 2022
According to media reports, NCPCR also wrote to the Kanpur Police Commissioner to file an FIR and initiate an inquiry into the issue. It has also instructed that the boy should be produced before the District Child Welfare Committee and send a report to the commission within 7 days.
The victim’s mother was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, “I came to know that my 16-year-old son has adopted Islam and married a woman, who has a four-year-old daughter. My son’s friend told me that he (son) was in touch with the woman for the last one year. The woman’s relative lives near the shop where my son works… They brainwashed my son.”
The mother said she went to the police station immediately after she got to know about the ‘nikah’ to lodge a complaint but the police did not register her complaint until she informed the Bajrang Dal, which held a protest outside the police station. Bajrang Dal’s Kanpur Prant Suraksha Pramukh Ashish Tripathi said that initially the police did not take the matter seriously and did not file an FIR on the complaint lodged by the boy’s mother.
“After we came to know about the incident, we went to the police station and briefed the police officers about the seriousness of the case. They then lodged an FIR,” Tripathi added.
According to reports, the police had booked the four persons, all residents of Kanpur. under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping) and 342 (wrongful confinement). Police have also invoked the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and provisions of the anti-conversion law against the four accused.
